President Obama, Senator Claire McCaskill and Representative Ike Skelton Announce Release of $2.6 Million of Recovery Act Funds for Health Clinics in Missouri Grants Will Help Serve 9,340 State Residents, Create 70 Jobs Acting to strengthen the health care safety net for the growing number of Americans in need, President Barack Obama, Senator Claire McCaskill

President Obama,
Senator Claire McCaskill and Representative Ike Skelton Announce Release of $2.6
Million of Recovery Act Funds for Health Clinics in Missouri

Grants Will
Help Serve 9,340 State Residents, Create 70 Jobs

Acting to strengthen the health care safety net for the
growing number of Americans in need, President Barack Obama, Senator
Claire McCaskill and Representative Ike Skeltontoday announced the release of $2.6 million authorized by
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will support 2 health centers in
Missouri. These health centers will help people in need -- many with no health
insurance -- obtain access to the comprehensive primary and preventive health
care services and create 70 jobs in Missouri.

“We have acted quickly to put Recovery Act dollars to good
use in communities across America,” said President Obama. “The construction and
expansion of health centers will help create thousands of new jobs and provide
critical assistance to Americans who have lost their job and their health care.
Health centers, primary care, and prevention are at the heart of my plan for an
affordable, accessible health care system.”

Health centers in the following communities will receive
support:

Family Health Center of Boone County in Columbia, MO

Richland Medical Center Inc. in Richland, MO

Nationwide, grants totaling $155 million will assist 126
health centers and help provide health care to an estimated 750,000 low-income
people across the country. The grants, which are administered by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), are expected to create 5,500 jobs at the new health
centers across the country.

HRSA’s network of 1,100 health center grantees across the
nation provide health care at more than 7,000 sites, ranging from large medical
facilities to clinics and mobile vans. In 2007, health centers served 16.1
million patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Charges for services are
set according to income, and only nominal fees are collected from the poorest
patients. Nationally, about 39 percent of health center patients have no health
insurance.

HRSA’s grants typically account for about 19 percent of a
health center’s total revenue. Medicare, Medicaid and other federal grants and
payments total about 46 percent of revenue; remaining operating funds come from
state and local grants, foundations and patient payments.